[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 60 (Wednesday, May 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DESPITE EXCESSIVE SURPLUS, POSTAL SERVICE TO IMPOSE STAMP TAX

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recall a tax imposed on our 
colonial forefathers by the British monarchy in the days before the 
birth of our Nation. Like the British monarchy, the United States 
Postal Service has imposed a Stamp Tax upon the American people. 
Despite recording a net operating surplus of more than $4.5 billion 
over the past 3 years and a surplus of over $1.3 billion already in 
1998, the Postal Rate Commission has approved a 1 cent increase in the 
price of a stamp.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not understand how the Postal Service can justify 
this tax increase on the working families of America, as the agency 
itself runs a record billion-dollar profit.
  Our colonial forefathers would be ashamed of the Postal Service that 
is now imposing this unnecessary tax on its people.

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